A New Classification for Hemorrhoidal Disease: The Creation of the “BPRST” Staging and Its Application in Clinical Practice

PURPOSE: Present an updated classification for symptomatic hemorrhoids, which not only guides the treatment of internal hemorrhoids but also the treatment of external components. In addition, this new classification includes new treatment alternatives created over the last few years. METHODS: Throughout the past 7 years, the authors developed a method to classify patients with symptomatic hemorrhoids. This study, besides presenting this classification proposal, also retrospectively analyzed 149 consecutive patients treated between March 2011 and November 2013 and aimed to evaluate the association between the management adopted with Goligher classification and our proposed BPRST classification. RESULTS: Both classifications had a statistically significant association with the adopted management strategies. However, the BPRST classification tended to have fewer management discrepancies when each stage of disease was individually analyzed. CONCLUSION: Although there is much disagreement about how the classification of hemorrhoidal disease should be updated, it is accepted that some kind of revision is needed. The BPRST method showed a strong association with the management that should be adopted for each stage of the disease. Further studies are needed for its validation, but the current results are encouraging.